Rotary engine.



R. H. MARTIN. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1911.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

KM 73. ww;

1M4 ma ROBERT H. MARTIN,

OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM DE L.

W'ALBRIDGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed April 15, 1911. Serial No. 621,380.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, of whichthe following is a specification.

It is extremely difficult to properly pack the moving parts of a rotaryengine for the reason that the wear at different points is unequal andproblems thus present themselves which are not presented in an ordinaryreciprocating engine.

The object of this present invention is to provide a proper packing ofthe rotary piston and the parts being so arranged that the packing willcause a minimum amount of frictional resistance and will thus last for aconsiderable longer period of time than where provision is not made forreducing the frictional resistance of the packing.

A further object of my invention is to provide certain improvements inthe construction, form and arrangement of the several parts of thepacking whereby the insertion and removal of the parts is facilitated.

A practical embodiment of this invention is represented in theaccompanying draw-- ings, in which Figure 1 represents in transversesection so much of a rotary engine as will give a clear understanding ofthe'invention, Fig. is a longitudinal central section through the same,and Fig. 3 is a detail section taken at one end of the piston head tomore clearly illustrate the end packing member.

The cylinder of the engine is denoted by 1 and its annular pistonchamber by 2. The rotary engine shaft is denoted by 3 and the pistonwhich is fast thereon comprises a hub 1, a web 5 and a head 6.

In the present instance, the piston. chamber 2 is shown as rectangularin cross sect-ion and the piston head 6 is shown as of the same crosssectional shape as the piston chamber so that the inner, outer and endwalls of the head engage with an easy sliding fit the inner, outer andend walls of the piston chamber. The side walls of the web 5 of thepiston have an easy fit between the side walls of the cylinder 1,intermediate the piston chamber 2, and the hub portion of the piston. Toreduce the friction between the side walls of the web 5 and the sidewalls of the cylinder which they engage, I provide a plurality of seriesof radially arranged pockets 7 connected to each other and to the pistonchamber 2 through ducts S for permitting the motive fluid to fill thepockets 7 and from thence to be distributed along between the walls ofthe web 5 and the walls of the cylinder to form a film of fluid betweenthe said walls.

The side walls of the web 5 of the rotary piston are provided with oneor more pairs of radially arranged spring pressed packing strips. In thepresent instance, one pair is shown extending from the hub 4: to thehead 6 of the piston. The two strips of the pair are denoted by 9, 10,and they are situated in a cross slot 11 and are pressed outwardlyagainst the side walls of the cylinder by springs 12. Each end of thehead 6 is pro-- vided with one or more spring pressed packing strips. Inthe present instance, two of these strips are shown. These strips aredenoted by 13 and are located in recesses 14: and are pressed outwardlyagainst the end walls of the annular piston chamber 2 by springs 15. Theouter wall of the piston head 6 is provided with a dove-tailed recess 16extending from end to end thereof in which recess is loosely fitted awedge-shaped packing strip 17, the outer face of which is pressedagainst the outer wall of the annular piston chamber 2 by means ofsprings 18.

The inner wall of the piston head 6 is provided upon opposite sides ofthe web 5 with dove-tailed recesses 19 extending from the said webthrough the ends of the piston head in which recesses are loosely fittedwedgeshaped packing strips 20. The inner faces of these packing stripsare pressed against the inner wall of the annular piston chamher 2 bysprings 21.

WVhen the piston is started in its rotary movement, the back inclinedwall of each of the packing strips 17, 20, is pressed firmly against theundercut back wall of each of the recesses 16, 19, thus preventing anyfurther movement of the packing strips toward the outer and inner wallsof the annular piston chamber and thus materially reducing thefrictional engagement of the said packing strips with the said walls andalso, therefore, materially reducing the wear upon the said packingstrips and still further also permitting an easier driving of the pistonby the motive fluid. This is accomplished by the co-action of theinclined faces of the recesses and the packing strips. The moment thepiston stops the packing strips 17,20, are free to be forced againsttheir Walls by their springs 18, 21. This action of gripping and holdingthe packing strips in their adjusted position is accomplishedirrespective of the direction in which the piston is rotated... Afurther reduction of frictional resistance is obtained by the film ofmotive ilnid interposed between the side Walls of the piston Web and theside Walls of the cylinder, as above described. A further advantage ofthe arrangement of the dovetailed recesses and Wedge-shaped strips liesin the rapidity with which the strips may be inserted and replaced Whenso desired.

The improvements herein described serve to materially reduce the chiefobjectionable feature to rotary engines, viz; the difliculty of properlypacking moving parts, the great wear on said packing, and the greatamount of power required to drive the piston When the packing is beingconstantly pressed against its opposing Wall.

hat I claim is 1. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a rotary pistoncomprising a Web and a head, said Web having a plurality of series ofradially disposed motive fluid receiving pockets and ducts in itsopposite side walls for supplying a film of fluid between the side Wallsof the Web and adjacent Walls of the cylinder.

2. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a rotary piston comprising a Web anda head, said Web having a plurality of series of radially disposedmotive fluid receiving pockets and ducts in its opposite side Walls forsupplying a film oi' fiuid between the side Walls of the Web andadjacent Walls of the cylinder, and

a. In a rotary engine, an annular piston' chamber, a piston having itshead fitted to the cross sectional shape of the chamber, said headhaving dove-tailed recesses in its inner and outer Walls, spring pressedWedge shaped packing strips located in said recesses, the Walls of thepacking strips and the Walls of the recesses co-acting to hold thestrips in their adjusted position during the movement of the piston andfor releasing said strips when the piston stops.

5. In a rotary engine, an annular piston chamber, rectangular in crosssection, a piston having 1ts head fitted to the cross secpacking stripsfor the outer and inner Walls of the piston head, and a pair of springpressed packing strips for each end Wall of the piston head, saidlast-named packing strips being located upon opposite sides of,

the outer and inner packing strips.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name in presence of lJWO Witnesses, this tWentyseventh day of March1911.

ROBERT I-I. MARTIN.

Vitnesses F. Gnonen BARRY, HENRY C. THIEME.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). G.

tional shape of the chamber, spring pressed

